Close / Hipp Building

1973, 1983; College Of Business Administration

Features of the eight-story, 408,000-square-foot twin
structures include 29 classrooms; television
facilities furnished with color equipment used by the College's
internationally known MBA-TV continuing education program; a 400-seat
auditorium; one floor devoted to state-of-the-art computer and
statistics equipment; and a library seating 400.

The USC-Business Partnership Foundation was instrumental in raising
funds to augment state monies for the construction of the $14 million
building.

Facilities in the building named in recognition of major contributors
to the College through the USC Business Partnership Foundation are: the
Charles E. Daniel (1895-1965) Continuing Education Center, the James C.
Self (1876-1955) Management Science Center, the Elliott White Springs
(1896-1959) Library, the Belk Auditorium, the South Carolina National
Bank Educational Television Center, and the First National Bank
Counseling Center. Classrooms commemorate by identification: Burlington
Industries, Horsman Dolls, the Citizens and Southern National Bank of
South Carolina, Bankers Trust of South Carolina, the Gregg-Graniteville
Foundation, Allied Chemical Foundation, Synalloy Corporation, Lawrence
S. Barringer, Sr. (1897-1965), Harold Boeschenstein (1896-1972)
(Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation), South Carolina Electric and Gas
Company, and Wachovia Bank and Trust Company.

The late H. William Close (1919-1983, 1967 Law Honorary) was a vital
part of Springs Industries, Inc., for 37 years. He joined the firm in
1946 and when his father-in-law, Colonel Elliott White Springs, died in
1959, Close became president of the several companies in the
organization. He became board chairman in 1969 and remained so until his
death. An ardent spokesman for the textile industry, he was named
Textile Man of the Year in 1963. Close was a founding member of the
USC-Business Partnership Foundation and an honorary life member of the
Greater USC Alumni Association.

Francis M. Hipp (1964 Law Honorary), chairman of the Liberty
Corporation and son of its founder, has been a principal leader in South
Carolina's business and political activities. A native South Carolinian,
in 1936 he joined the Greenville-based family business, and when his
father died seven years later, he became president of the company at the
age of 31. The company grew to one with assets of $937 million in 1985.
He became chairman of The Liberty Corporation - a holding company active
in the life insurance, broadcasting, and savings and loan industries -
in 1968. He was named South Carolinian of the Year in 1980 by the South
Carolina State Chamber of Commerce, and was the first chairman of the
South Carolina State Development Board. Hipp is former chairman of the
Palmetto Forum and former president of the USC-Business Partnership
Foundation, and a member of its board.